Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

No. 5 Regina (9-1) at No. 4 MFL Mar Mac (9-1)

Where: Regal Field, 7 p.m.

Last season: Did not play

Player to watch: MFL Mar Mac senior Carver Blietz-Bentien (6-1, 210) has passed for 495 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions and rushed for 465 yards and nine touchdowns. Blietz-Bentien also ranks second on the team with 67.5 tackles including 10 tackles for loss.

Key stat: MFL Mar Mac hasn’t allowed more than 284 yards of total offense in a game this season and has held opponents to seven or fewer points six times in 10 games.

About the Regals: Regina returns to the quarterfinal round for the first time since winning the Class A title in 2020.

The Regals have won four in a row since a 21-17 loss at West Branch in week six and outscored Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Wilton by a combined total of 81-38 in two playoff wins.

Regina has scored at least 33 points in all nine of its wins this season eclipsing 44 points seven times this season.

The Regina offense led by senior quarterback Gentry Dumont (6-2, 205) has been among the most productive in Class 1A this season averaging 41.9 points and 371 total yards per game while averaging better than 8.8 yards per play.

Dumont has completed 63 percent of his passes this season while throwing for 2,228 yards and 25 touchdowns with just four interceptions and has rushed for 162 yards and four touchdowns.

Senior Jackson Naeve (6-1, 180) is one of the most dangerous all-around weapons in 1A and leads Regina with 37 receptions for 837 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Naeve has also rushed for 316 yards and eight touchdowns and returned two kickoffs and a punt for touchdowns.

Freshman Tate Wallace (6-1, 190) has caught 30 passes for 404 yards and three touchdowns and seniors Ty Joss (6-0, 175) and Alex Jensen (5-7, 140) have combined for 41 receptions.

Joss has 22 receptions for 458 yards and eight touchdowns and Jensen has caught 19 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown.

William Aitchison (5-9, 175) leads Regina with 558 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.

As impressive as Regina has been on offense the Regals have been just as good defensively holding teams to 13.8 points and 216 total yards per game while surrendering just 4.4 yards per play.

Senior Jack Clark (6-2, 215) leads Regina with 41 tackles including eight for loss and a team-high six sacks.

Junior Leren Fernandez (5-10, 180) has 40.5 tackles, senior Ian Udell (6-0, 210) has 37.5 tackles with eight for loss and Joss has 33 tackles.

Senior Drew Streb (6-2, 235) has 28 tackles with nine for loss and 3.5 sacks and junior Noah Clark (6-1, 230) has a team-high 15 tackles for loss.

Regina has forced 21 turnovers in 10 games including 17 interceptions.

Naeve and sophomore Andrew Greve each have four interceptions while Jensen has three and Joss has two picks.

About the Bulldogs: MFL Mar Mac returns to the quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive season seeking its first trip to the UNI-Dome.

The Bulldogs are 0-4 in quarterfinals the past four seasons falling to four different teams in the past four quarterfinal appearance.

MFL Mar Mac fell to Grundy Center 35-20 in the 2019 quarters, lost to Saint Ansgar 49-14 in 2020 and Dyersville Beckman 35-6 in 2021.

Last season the Bulldogs lost to West Branch 27-24 in the quarterfinals.

This may be the most impressive MFL Mar Mac group during its five-year quarterfinal run in which the Bulldogs have amassed a combined 45-9 record.

MFL Mar Mac has won five straight since its only loss of the season, a 13-9 setback to Sumner-Fredericksburg in week five.

During its current five-game winning streak the Bulldogs have wins over playoff qualifiers Dike-New Hartford and Denver as well as postseason victories over Hudson and West Branch.

MFL Mar Mac has been impressive defensively holding opponents to 8 points and 167 total yards per game on just 3.6 yards per play.

The Bulldogs allow just 63 rushing yards per game and just 2.3 yards per carry and have forced 19 turnovers.

Senior Kade McElwaine (6-0, 195) leads the Bulldogs with 74.5 tackles including 16 for loss and senior Tristen Koehn (5-9, 180) has 63.5 tackles with a team-high 21.5 for loss.

Koehn and Bryce Diehl (6-2, 215) each have 6.5 sacks while Diehl has 13 tackles for loss.

As a team the Bulldogs have 87 tackles for loss on the season with six players registering seven or more tackles for loss.

The run-heavy Bulldog offense led by Blietz-Bentien averages 33.5 points and 311 total yards per game with 249 of the total yards coming on the ground.

Four different players have rushed for 400 yards this season led by junior Quinn McGeough (6-0, 180) with 774 yards and seven touchdowns.

Senior Wyatt Powell (6-1, 215) has rushed for 709 yards and nine touchdowns and Bryce Radloff (5-8, 155) has rushed for 403 yards and five touchdowns.

Senior Brandon Christofferson (6-2, 195) is the top pass catcher with 17 receptions for 207 yards and four touchdowns while Radloff has 12 catches for 183 yards and five touchdowns.

West Delaware (7-3) at Solon (9-1)

Where: Spartan Stadium, 7 p.m.

Last season: Solon 42, West Delaware 18 (Class 3A first round)

Player to watch: West Delaware junior quarterback brent Yonkovic (5-10, 190) has completed 53 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,182 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions and has rushed for a team-high 1,459 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Key stat: Both Solon and West Delaware have a +1.6 yards per play differential. Solon averages 5.8 yards per play on defense and allows 4.2 yards per play on defense. West Delaware averaging 6.5 yards per play on offense and allows 4.9 yards per play on defense.

About the Spartans: Appearing in the quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive season Solon is seeking its second semifinal appearance in the past three seasons and third in the past five years.

Solon lost to Mount Vernon in the 3A quarterfinals last season and opened this year with a 34-7 loss to Davenport Assumption but has rattled off nine consecutive wins to return to the quarterfinals.

The Spartans cruised to a 50-7 win over Fort Madison in the opening-round of the 3A playoffs last season and have outscored opponents by an average of more than 28 points per game during their current nine-game winning streak.

Defense has been the calling card for the Spartans this season as Solon has held opponents to 11 points and 223 total yards per game.

Solon has given up more than 14 points just twice in 10 games this season and has held six straight opponents under 3.7 yards per play.

Senior linebacker Brett White (6-0, 210) leads the Spartans with 87.5 tackles including a team-high 20.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.

Senior safety Jack McCarty (5-10, 175) has 335 tackles and senior outside linebacker Brayden Moore (5-9, 185) has 34.5 tackles with six for loss.

Solon has forced 24 turnovers in 10 games with senior Austin Knight (6-3, 185) intercepting four passes and White and senior linebacker Keenan Kruse (6-1, 190) have each recovered three fumbles.

The Solon offense is led by junior quarterback Tyler Bell (6-1, 180) who has completed 52 percent of his passes while throwing for 924 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions.

Sophomore Conlan Poynton (5-10, 175) leads the Spartan running game that is averaging 179 yards per game with 861 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Junior Eddie Johnson (6-1, 205) has rushed for 300 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

Senior Grant Knipper (6-0, 175) has been the top receiving target for the Spartans with 19 receptions for 265 yards and a touchdown and senior Nash Kotar (6-1, 185) has caught 17 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns.

About the Hawks: West Delaware is making its fourth consecutive playoff appearance and is seeking to earn a measure of revenge against Solon after having its season end with loss to the Spartans each of the past two years.

Solon won at West Delaware 23-19 in the 2021 quarterfinals and downed the Hawks 42-18 in a 3A opening-round contest last season.

West Delaware defeated Davenport Assumption 58-54 in the opening round of the playoffs last season and is seeking its first semifinal appearance since 2015.

After opening the season with back-to-back losses to 4A playoff qualifiers Western Dubuque and Decorah the Hawks have won seven of their last eight game averaging 35 points per game during that stretch.

West Delaware is coming off its best offensive performance of the season when it scored a season-high 58 points while racking up 590 yards of total offense and averaged 7.8 yards per play in the opening-round win over Davenport Assumption.

Yonkovic accounted for 490 total yards in the win over the Knights rushing for 288 yards and five touchdowns and passing for 202 and two touchdowns.

Led by Yonkovic the Hawks are averaging 31.4 points and 371 total yards per game this season while averaging 6.5 yards per play.

Yonkovic leads the way in a West Delaware running game that is averaging 253 yards per game on the ground and 6.2 yards per carry.

Sophomore Macoy Rolling (5-11, 177) has rushed for 540 yards and seven touchdowns and junior Memphis Voelker (6-0, 193) has rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior Conrad Smith (6-1, 185) has been the top pass catcher with 40 receptions for 495 yards and five touchdowns and junior Seth Jackson (6-2, 180) has 23 receptions for 313 yards and five touchdowns.

West Delaware has been solid defensively this season holding teams to 19.5 points and 230 total yards per game while allowing 4.9 yards per play.

After allowing 82 combined points in the back-to-back losses to open the season West Delaware has held opponents to 14.2 points per game and has allowed more than 14 points just twice.

Senior Jack Smith (6-3, 210) leads the Hawks with 77.5 tackles while junior Jeryn Funke (5-11, 213) has 51.5 tackles with a team-high 10 tackles for loss and four sacks.

Senior Noah Felton (6-1, 199) has 42 tackles with 10 for loss and Smith has a team-high five interceptions.

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